Council to address lots, fees

From skateboards to subdivision lot development to building fees, the Steamboat Springs City Council has a busy list of business to address tonight.

The council's agenda includes:

Skateboard ordinance

Should skateboarders and others pay increased fines each time they are caught riding in prohibited areas?

The council is set to answer that question tonight by conducting a second reading of an ordinance that would introduce a graduated fine schedule for people who ride where they aren't allowed. The $10-per-offense fine would change to $25 for the first offense, $50 for the second and $75 for the third and subsequent offenses.

The ordinance proposes that people cannot ride skateboards, bicycles, roller skates, in-line skates, toy vehicles, kamikazi boards, go-peds, stand-up scooters or ski skates on sidewalks within the following boundaries: Oak Street on the north, Yampa Avenue on the south, Third Street on the east and 13th Street on the west. People can, however, carry or walk with any of these vehicles in the area.

The ordinance also addresses which vehicles are allowed on city streets. No toy vehicles, kamikazi boards, go-peds, or stand-up scooters are allowed on any public roadway within the city. However, people can ride skateboards, roller skates, in-line skates and ski skates on city roads. Because of state law, only bicycles are allowed on Lincoln Avenue, U.S. Highway 40 and Elk River Road.

Fairview lots

The council will take a second look at an ordinance that would extend a moratorium on applications for building permits on certain lots within the Fairview subdivision area.

The city annexed lots in the area in 1989 in connection with west of Steamboat plans, and then sold the lots to adjacent homeowners.

Since then, residents have disagreed about whether they were allowed to build on those lots. Some of the area's residents have said that when the city sold the lots, it agreed not to allow building on them.

According to city staff, the lots were sold with deed restrictions prohibiting the sale of the lots separate from the adjacent lots. The deed restrictions do not mention any prohibition of building on the lots.

The council passed a moratorium on building permit applications on the lots in April, then extended the moratorium in July. The groups met with a professional mediator, but no final agreements were made. City staff members have told the council that more time is needed to promote negotiation.

Building permit fees, taxes

The council will conduct a second reading of an ordinance that would reduce the building permit fee schedule.

If the council approves the ordinance, the fees would go down about 10 percent -- the same as they were in 2002. County officials have asked the city to consider adopting the fee schedule, which would correspond with the county's schedule effective this month.

The council also will conduct a second reading of an ordinance that proposes changes in how building valuations for use-tax purposes are determined. The use tax is essentially prepaid estimated sales tax that is collected at the time of building permit issuance.

The ordinance proposes to drop the city's residential building cost modifier, which was used to adjust the valuation basis of residential construction. It also proposes an increase from 40 percent to 50 percent in the amount of a building's value that is estimated to be building materials. Don Taylor, the city's director of financial services, said that for new residential construction, the elimination of the modifier and the increase in the estimate of building materials nearly offset each other.

Planning items

The council will decide whether to approve a business park plan and also will critique two pre-applications.

Council members are set to re----view the final development plan for a project at the Copper Ridge Business Park. The plan application includes two multi-use buildings; one would be 6,080 square feet and the other would be 7,044 square feet. The space would be used for warehouse space, a single-family residence and an employee unit.

The council also will give comments, but not make decisions, on two project pre-applications. One is for a 17-unit townhome development on a section of land between Mount Werner Road and Rockies Way. The units would range in size from 2,600 to 3,200 square feet.

The other pre-application is for a development at Fifth and Yampa streets that would include 20 residential units, 7,700 square feet of commercial space and four employee housing units.